Car truck



March 2, 1943. R. B. COT'II'RELL CAR TRUCK Filed Dec. 30, 1940 Patented Mar. 2, 1943 Robert B. Cottrell,

Chicago, 111., assignor to American Steel Foundries, Chicago, 111., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 30, 1940, Serial No. 372,277 4 Claims. (01. -105197) My invention relates to a railway car truck and particularly to a well-known form of such truck which utilizes a truss type side frame and two levels of bolster supporting springs carried on the tension member thereof.

In this form of truck, the column guides are generally formed with surfaces flaring somewhat in an inboard direction and with abutment means at the outboard edges of said columns for the bolster. The bolster is interlocked with the side frame by means of lugs which project downwardly through the top chord of the tension member for engagement with spring caps positioned on the springs which may be seated on the lower chord of the tension member.

An object of my invention is to devise a novel form of ride control device for such a railway car truck wherein means may be mounted in the columns of the side frame for frictional engagement with the side walls of the bolster which extend therealong.

A general object of my invention is to afford for a side frame of the type just described a novel form of friction absorbing device which may conveniently be mounted in the columns of the side frame for frictional engagement with the adjacent bolster walls and which will be readily accessible for application or removal at any time without disturbing other parts of the truck construction or arrangement.

A specific object of my invention is to so arrange the parts of such a side frame as that described that wear plates may be mounted on the side walls of the bolster thereof and friction panels supported in the adjacent column walls of the side frame.

My invention comprehends a frictional device suitable for mounting in each side frame column comprising a resilient member normally under compression and operative to urge the frictional element into engagement with a wear plate mounted on the adjacent side wall of the bolster.

In the design that I have devised, the friction set up is operative to snub the action of all the springs utilized in this form of car truck those on the lower level as well as those on the upper level.

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a railway car truck embodying my invention, only one side of the structure being shown inasmuch as the arrangement is the same at both sides of the truck.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view through the truck structure shown in Figure 1, the section being taken approximately in the transverse vertical plane indicated by the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a further fragmentary sectional view through the truck structure shown in Figures 1 and 2 with the section taken substantially in the horizontal plane indicated by the line 3--3 of Figure 1.

In detail, the truck structure comprises a truss side frame of well-known form including the compression member 2 and the tension member 4 and the integral column 6 defining therewith a central bolster opening 8 and a window opening H] at each side of the bolster opening. Above the bolster opening, the compression member is reinforced by the transverse web l2 over the column, said compression member otherwise being substantially of inverted U-section. The tension member beneath the bolster opening is of boxsection having the inboard wall 14, the outboard Wall IS, the bottom chord l8, and the top chord 20 widened somewhat to form a top spring seat 22 on which may be carried the top level springs diagrammatically indicated at 24. The bottom chord of the box-section portion of the tension member affords a spring seat as at 28 for lower level springs diagrammatically indicated at 28, and atop of each spring group 28 may be positioned a composite spring cap 30 affording a seat as at 3| for the downwardly projecting lug 34 of the bolster. Said spring cap 3!! includes the thimble 32, the lower end of which forms positioning means for the springs portion of which may be received in said hollow lug 34 projecting downwardly through the opening 35 in the top chord of the tension member from the bottom wall of the bolster generally designated 36. The inboard and outboard side walls of the box-section tension member may be cored away at 38, 38 to form openings convenient for inspection of said lower level springs, said openings being beaded around their edges as at 40, 150.

In its usual form, this type of truck is formed with a bolster guide surface 42 extending along the major portion of each column, said surfaces normally flaring in an inboard direction as may be seen from the sectional View of Figure 3. Each surface 42 normally may engage a correspondingly flared surface 44 formed on the adjacent side wall 45 of the bolster. At the outboard edge of the column is formed the vertical Web 423 reinforced along its margin by the lower rib 50, said web 48 forming a stop or limiting means against which the bolster may abut as at 52. The intermediate portion of the bolster may extend outwardly of said columns as at 54 thus conveniently 2B and the upper receiving the top level springs 24, 24 which are spaced transversely of the frame. The bolster 36 is formed with an intermediate arcuate wall 56 which is continuous into the end portion 54, already referred to, and is spaced from the side wall 46, said intermediate arcuate wall 56 forming convenient positioning means for the enclosed top level springs 24, 24 which may abut as at 58 the top wall 66 of said bolster.

In my novel arrangement, each side wall 46 of the bolster is recessed as at 62 to form a seat in a plane parallel to the vertical plane bisecting the truck transversely to receive the rectangular wear plate 64 which may abut as at 66 the friction shoe 68, said shoe 68 being reinforced by top and bottom transverse flanges 69, 69. Said friction shoe 68 may be positioned in the transverse opening formed in the wall of the adjacent column, and the openings 10, 10 in the respective columns of the frame may be aligned longitudinally of the frame. On the back of each friction shoe 68 may be formed positioning means 12 for the rubber spring 14 and the opposite face of the spring 14 may seat as at 16 against the: inner face of the spring cap or panel 18 and be positioned thereagainst by the centrally arranged lug 80. Said panel 18 may be formed with a transversely arranged central eye 82 in alignment with which may be formed also eyes in the spaced outboard and inboard lugs 84 and 86, and through all of said eyes may extend the retaining pin 88. Said retaining pin 88 may also extend through the inboard side wall of the column as at 90 for convenient reception of a retaining cotter as at 92. By supporting the panel 18 from a single retaining pin 88 about which the panel may pivot, an arrangement is afforded which will permit the alignment of the spring 14 with the adjacent side wall of the bolster in any rocking motion of the bolster such as may normally take place in a bouncing action as may readily occur under operating conditions. By this arrangement the rubber pad or spring 14 may be maintained under substantially uniform compression throughout its area, thus functioning more effectively than would be possible if the spring cap or panel 18 were supported in a fixed position.

It will readily be seen that my novel control device may be applied to the truck structure while the other parts are in their normal assembled' operative relationship. In other words, after the springs have been positioned on the side frame and the bolster assembled in its normal position in the bolster opening thereof, I may position my novel friction shoes in the column openings, seat the rubber pads or springs thereagainst, place the outer spring cap orpanel against the rubber pad, and compress said pad sufficiently to admit the retaining pin 88. The quantity of friction developed may be varied by the character or compression of the spring 14. The device may thus conveniently be assembled or dismantled either for inspection or application of new friction shoes when desired. The Wear plate 64 may be welded on the side of the bolster or it may simply be recessed therein.

It is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited by the exact embodiment of the device shown which is merely by way of illustration and not limitation as various and other forms of the device will, of course, be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a railway car truck, a side frame having a tension member, a compression member, and integral columns forming a central bolster opening and spaced window openings, said columns having bolster guide surfaces diverging in an inboard direction, springs on the top and bottom chords of said tension member, a bolster extending into said bolster opening and seated on said springs, said bolster having side walls with guide faces complementary in form to said surfaces, wear plates recessed in said walls in parallel planes, friction means mounted in said columns in frictional engagement with said wear plates, each of said friction means comprising a friction shoe in abutment with the adjacent wear plate, a spring cap supported from said column and spaced from said friction shoe, resilient means compressed between said spring cap and said shoe, and positioning means on said shoe and said cap for said resilient means, said spring cap having a single pivotal support on an axis transverse of said frame, said pivotal support permitting said spring cap to remain in alignment with the adjacent wear plate and retain said resilient means under uniform compression during rocking movement of said bolster.

2. In a railway car truck, a side frame having spaced columns defining in part a bolster opening, a spring group in said opening, a bolster seated on said spring group, said columns having bolster guide surfaces diverging inwardly of said truck and said bolster having side walls with guide faces complementary to said surfaces for engagement therewith, each of said side walls having a central friction area lying in a plane parallel with the transverse vertical plane bisecting the truck, friction means in the respective columns for engagement with said friction areas, each of said friction means comprising a support block pivoted in said column for rotation about a single axis, a friction shoe in engagement with the adjacent friction area of said bolster, and a pad of resilient material under compression between said shoe and said block, the pivoted mounting of said support block permitting said pad of resilient material to remain in alignment with the adjacent friction area during rocking movements of said bolster.

3. In a railway car truck, a side frame having spaced columns defining in part a central bolster opening, a spring group, a bolster extending into said opening and seated on said group, each of said columns having diagonally arranged bolster guide surfaces, said surfaces diverging inwardly of said frame, said bolster having side walls with guide faces complementary in form to said surfaces and presenting centrally of said faces friction. areas lying in parallel planes at opposite sides of said bolster, friction means recessed in said columns for engagement with said friction areas respectively, each of said friction means comprising a panel supported in said column for rotation about a single axis, a friction shoe seated against the adjacent bolster friction area, and a pad of resilient material under compression between said panel and said shoe, the supports of said panels about their respective axes of rotation permitting said panels to remain in alignment with the adjacent friction areas and parallel with each other during tilting movement of said bolster about its longitudinal axis.

4. In a railway car truck, a side frame having top and bottom members and spaced columns defining a bolster opening, a spring group seated on said bottom member, a bolster extending into said opening and seated on said group, said columns having bolster guide surfaces diverging in an inboard direction and said bolster having side walls with guide faces complementary in form to said surfaces, friction panels recessed in said side walls centrally of said faces in parallel planes, friction devices in said columns for engagement with said,

friction panels respectively, each of said devices comprising a member supported in the adjacent column to pivot on a single axis parallel with the longitudinal axis of said bolster, a friction shoe 1o abutting the adjacent friction panel, and a pad of resilient material under compfession between said supported member and said shoe, the pivotal mounting of said supported members in the respective columns being effective to permit alignment of said last-mentioned meiilibers with the adjacent bolster side walls under tilting action of said bolster and retaining saidffresilient pads under substantially constant pressure.

ROBERT B.'-'COTTRELL. 

